Author: Jo B

Permanent Artist-run Spaces for Life

‘Permanent’ and ‘Artist-run’ are not two phrases we normally see next to each other. The artist is taught not to dream of solid ground, instead living in a world of; temporary exhibitions, meanwhile leases, short-term sublets, interim projects, makeshift studios, provisional spaces, stand-in lecturers, roving entities, and ephemeral practices. Artist-run culture balances on the knife […]

How we make home – The Forever Temporary

What does it mean to move all the time? My temporary history was triggered to ask myself this question after visiting The Forever Temporary at The Whitgift Centre in Croydon which forces us to reflect on this. The exhibition centres on property guardianships which refers to tenants who have a responsibility to maintain properties, with […]

Relatively Permanent

I once read the city described as a “relatively permanent” place. Inserting the word relatively next to permanent seems contradictory. Is it one or the other? Permanent is permanent, a concrete word. It is not permanent-ish, surely? Perhaps using a concrete word but subverting its intention is a perfect analogy for a city. A sprawling […]

MOSS Worlds Radio

MOSS are a collective of learning disabled adult artists based here at Turf Projects. The collective take part in weekly workshops and have a studio at Turf where they can work on their own projects. As part of these workshops during ‘Eye Level’, MOSS have created a radio show with audio producer Huw Olesker. For […]

Nammy Wams (AP LIFE Croydon FM) x Shellsondeck

      About Nammy Wams Nammy Wams is a British Vietnamese-Chinese London-based music producer and DJ specialising in Grime, UK Drill, and the related-sounds. He has hosted a weekly two hour slot on Croydon 97.8FM since 2018. He runs the label AP Life with Bok Bok where he has released three instrumental EPs. Many artists […]

Chasing Ghosts

Designated Company was a work-in-progress commissioned by Turf Projects in July 2024. It was performed at 6 out of the 158 bus stops without seats or shelters in Croydon to highlight that travel in our Borough has not been fully accessible since 2021. I read the planning reports which are more for “advertising” than “people”, […]

Why is Croydon shaped the way it is today?

  Why is Croydon shaped the way it is today? Why are the public spaces where they are in the borough? Let’s explore the history of major changes in the landscape of central Croydon.  By understanding some of the issues of the past, we can understand a little more about how decisions are made around […]

A Light That Never Goes Out

  There’s something I’d like to try   This is an experiment, a rabbit hole. Go with me.   In Customs in Common: Studies in Traditional Popular Culture (1993) British historian E.P. Thompson explores how land use and ownership was shaped by the evolving relationship between customs and law, influencing the development of English law […]

Tactile Boundaries

The Hug a Hoodie bean bag sculptures featured in Turf Project’s Squidgy World exhibition lie unassumingly on the floor. Created by Yolanda Shields – also known as Milktooth – the sculptures reflect the negotiation of touch on multiple levels in the artist’s life. These sculptures navigate the boundaries between touch and art, and the boundaries […]

Devotional Work

Analysing the power structures of a monastery in a documentary edited at a post-house in Soho. At Belmont Abbey in Hereford, Father Alex creates a tempera with egg yolk to bind together the pigment in his latest icon, a gold leaf painting of Archangel Michael. Meanwhile, Brother Bernard shuffles past an unnamed monk polishing the […]